Unspoken Presumptions
by panicattack20
Summary: What was the real reason SG1 broke up? My first fanfic, please be kind. :


She was coming back. That thought scared him like none other. Samantha Carter was on her way back to Cheyenne Mountain and he was supposed to be light years away. Thanks to Vala and those damn bracelets he was stuck on Earth, and Sam was due any minute. Sometimes fate was cruel.

He'd been in love with her almost since they met, to his endless guilt over not being able to stay emotionally faithful to his wife. He'd failed her in so many ways, but none as unforgivable as letting his fascination with that Captain-Doctor Carter carry him away from Share when he should have been protecting her. After his wife's death, he'd stopped pretending, at least to himself, that he wasn't in love with Sam. It was just so easy between them. An instant intellectual bond that had never been severed, not even by ascension.

In fact, it was ascension that turned their intellectual bond into something more, well something more physical anyway. They'd both felt the flash of chemistry in the tent on Visuban. Later, after saving the world…again, they'd talk everything over in his quarters. He'd had to know why he felt everything he felt for her if nothing was between them. He requested her presence and asked again, "Are you sure we didn't have something..." he gestured with his hands, "more? Because it feels that way to me, so I have to know if I'm just confused, or if I'm missing something here."

Sam smiled. "We've always had something," she said carefully, "But we work together, we're friends, you were married. There are so many reasons why it never moved farther."

Daniel kissed her. It hadn't been his plan, hadn't even been thought of until his lips touched hers. He pulled back, "You know the good thing about losing your memory? You tend to forget all those little reasons."

She smiled and kissed him back and he thought he'd never been so happy. He knew he loved her, but it wasn't until later that he'd realized that he'd been more right than he'd thought. All of those little reasons came back to him. Including one major one; Jack. He knew Sam had had feelings for Jack, and could never love him the way he loved her, but decided that part of her heart was better than none at all. And besides, Jack and Sam would never encroach on the regs; so maybe, he could have time enough with her to move up from second to first in her heart.

Then Jack was transferred out of their chain of command. This was the day Daniel had been dreading since Sam and he had gotten together. After all, now what was holding Sam back from getting the man she truly loved, and leaving Daniel out in the cold? Nothing, absolutely nothing. No regs. No frat rules. And definitely not her feelings for Daniel. So, he'd done the leaving first. He'd gone to her house and told her that maybe they should put the brakes on and start seeing other people. She'd looked at him for a minute, disbelief, shack, and something else he couldn't place flickered through her eye. Then she looked down at the floor and had nodded. Just nodded. If she'd given him even a hint that she was hurt, or even upset, he would have buckled, but she just nodded, so he left without a word. The next day, he'd signed up for the trip to Atlantis and had heard through the grapevine that she'd put in a transfer to Washington. With Jack. He tried to be happy for her. She was getting everything she'd ever wanted, right? Instead, he got plastered alone in his apartment and had to talk himself out of calling her.

Now, he was stuck here and would have to see her, work with her, for the first time since the break up. He'd rather die. But since he knew they'd just find yet another way to bring him back, he decided to be mature and see her, talk to her, at least to make sure they could maintain a professional relationship.

Knowing this was a bad decision, he knocked on the door to Sam's quarters. She opened the door and his heart stopped beating in his chest. It had been so long since he'd seen her and now that they were standing face to face, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and_… well too late for that now Danny-boy,_ he thought, interrupting his own thoughts_. She does not look happy to see you._

Sam wasn't happy to see him. So many emotions were swirling through her heart, it made her head spin, but happy was not one of them. In front of her stood Daniel. Her Danny. Or should she say Sha're's Danny; he had never been hers in anything except body. All through their relationship, she had tried not to let the fact that she would always be second in his heart bother her. She thought maybe, in time, she would make more room for herself in there, but he had not given her that time. One day, he'd finally decided to stop pretending that he loved her and had left. Only her military training had stopped her from crying, screaming, begging, doing anything at all to keep him. Had instead blocked her emotions and not put up a fight, not even let him know how much he had hurt her. But when he left, she crumpled up in a ball on the floor and cried as she felt, literally felt her heart shattering. The next day she had put in a transfer to the Pentagon. She had friends there still, and she quite frankly wanted to be anywhere but here, where she could see him every day, and he could break her heart again and again, simply by not wanting her. She felt her heart break again, so she focused on the anger. How dare he show up here? What made him think she would even see him? She wouldn't let him see her hurt.

He focused on her face, and saw formality, and barely disguised annoyance. "Is there something I can do for you, Daniel?" She asked, her tone hinting that the only thing she'd help him with was finding the next available flight to hell.

"Yeah, umm, Sam, we need to talk." He finally answered. Good, nice firm voice. Don't beg. Don't beg.

"We are talking." She answered shortly. He began to think maybe he'd have to beg after all.

"Privately…please." She grudgingly held the door a little wider to let him in. He paced around the room with no idea what to say or where to begin.

"Well..?"

"Listen, Sam, we need to call a truce. We will be working together and snapping at one another isn't getting the job done. Besides, I don't know why you're so mad at me anyway." He couldn't help himself adding.

"You don't." She stated disbelievingly. "You threw away our relationship with out giving me a decent explanation and you don't know why I'm mad at you?" She stopped her self and took a deep breath. "Listen, I don't see why there is any reason we can't work together. We're both adults, right? Right," she answered herself. "Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do."

It took Daniel a few minutes to realize he'd been dismissed. He couldn't make himself leave though. He didn't understand why she should be upset with him. He'd done her a favor, right? And he told her so.

"I thought you'd be happy," he stated, and watched Sam's jaw drop. He plunged on. "You didn't mind at the time, did you? You went straight off to Jack with out a thought about me." His voice had lost most of the strength and he hated the fact that he sounded like a whiney child, but couldn't help it. "You didn't want me anymore, had never loved me like I needed you to, what was I supposed to do, wait for you to do the leaving?"

"How did you need me to love you, Daniel?" her voice had softened now with old hurts. "Like you were the only one? Like I couldn't live without you and didn't want to try? That's what you had from me, but you couldn't see it. I never felt anything other than friendship for Jack; it was always you since the moment we met. You couldn't see it though, because I'd always be a distant second in your heart." She turned back to the door and opened it, "I'd like you to leave now."

Daniel's head was spinning. Always him. Never Jack. Always him. She was as jealous of Sha're as he was of Jack, apparently with no reason. He looked at her and realized that she was still standing there with the door open. He briskly walked across the room and slammed it shut with his palm. He turned to her, reached a hand around the back of her neck, pulled her to him and kissed her, thoroughly. When he finally pulled back, he was smiling. "Sam, you know me better than anyone. Could I have even kissed you, much less dated and slept with you, if Sha're was more than a memory in my heart?" Her eyes showed confusion, and more importantly, love. He plunged on, "Samantha Carter, I love you, more than you will ever know. And I'm so sorry, I hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing for you."

"The right thing?" she asked, incredulous, "How could breaking my heart be the right thing?"

He closed his eyes and laid his forehead on hers. "I didn't know I could break your heart. I thought you were only with me because…" he trailed off. "You never told me."

"You never told me, either," she reminded him. "I thought I was a substitute. I loved you so much and…"

He placed his finger on her lips, "Say that again."

She smiled, "I love you." She barely finished the last word before his lips claimed hers again. She pulled away. "But if you ever try to do what's best for me again…"

He grinned. "Yes, ma'am." And kissed her again.

FIN


End file.
